Legal

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a wise decision today in striking down Ohio’s false statement law statute in Susan B. Anthony List, et al. v. Driehaus, et al. “Ohio’s laws do not pass constitutional muster because they are not narrowly tailored in their (1) timing, (2) lack of a screening process for […]

Alexandria, VA – Today the Federal Election Commission (FEC) agreed to produce a controversial agency report to settle a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit the Center for Competitive Politics (CCP) brought against the agency. The document sets out the FEC Office of General Counsel’s original analysis concerning a complaint against Crossroads GPS that was dismissed by […]

In this University of Pennsylvania Law Review article, author Margaret H. Zhang assesses the constitutionality of state false statement law statutes in the wake of recent court decisions. As Zhang explains, today’s political candidates must be prepared for mudslinging targeted not just at their professional lives, but also at their private lives, appearance, genealogy, religion, […]

Allen Dickerson The case to which Mr. Abrams refers, Center for Competitive Politics v. Harris, concerns the privacy of donors to charities that cannot by law engage in electoral advocacy. California’s policy cannot possibly help voters “make informed choices in the political marketplace,” in part because state officials promise to keep the information confidential. While […]

Michelle L. Price In a lawsuit filed in federal court this week, the groups said the law unconstitutionally forces them to forgo their free speech right to speak on political issues, or risk losing donors who may not want to be disclosed. Representatives for the nonprofits said that kept them from weighing in on a […]

Connor Boyack and Billy Hesterman While it makes sense to require disclosure from organizations whose primary or sole purpose is political — as they directly affect government processes and outcomes — the bill expanded the reporting requirements to include organizations whose political advocacy is infrequent and, more often than not, focused on advocacy and education. […]

Steven Greenhut The AFP Foundation said in its lawsuit that it has been filing such forms every year since 2001 without problem – but that in the last two years Harris has demanded the Section B information. As this column previously reported, the AG’s office said that was needed for potential enforcement issues – and […]

The measure requires a nonprofit to disclose its donors if it spends $750 or more “to influence or tend to influence, directly or indirectly” any election. It was adopted in 2013 in the wake of a scandal involving former state Attorney General John Swallow, who was accused of funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars in […]

Lee Davidson Attorneys said the law requires any nonprofit group to disclose its donors if it spends $750 or more “to influence or tend to influence, directly or indirectly” any campaign or vote. “But that can be almost any speech, especially in a free society where ideas are expected to influence our government,” said Allen […]